Friday, September 5, 2014

Facts and Stories about Monuments of Delhi

In the first week of February, 2014 , the Delhi Heritage Club held an engrossing
Sunday afternoon session at the enclosure known as Wazirpur-ka-Gumbad.
Headed by Vikramjit Singh, the club meets at some historical site or the
other from time to time. Vikramjit’s Namdhari sect had a 19th Century
Guru, Ram Singh, who was exiled to Rangoon some years after Bahadur Shah
Zafar following the Kuka rebellion of 1872. That’s how the young
business executive got interested in history.

Well
Wazirpur-ka-Gumbad, despite the building of a temple and a gurdwara on
one side, is still very much a picturesque place. About 50 people, from
different professions, scientists, businessmen, a photographer, a
history buff, Arif and housewives all flocked to hear a talk on Delhi of
the past. They sat on the grassy lawn just outside a medieval baoli or
step-well and did not let their attention waver despite the distraction
caused by children.

Ramakrishna Puram has around it
the villages of Munirka, Mohammadpur, Basantnagar and Kusumpur. The area
is dotted with numerous tombs, mosques and pavilions, most of them of
the Lodi period. Here we have the three-domed Tin Burji, east of
Mohammadpur, Malik-Munirka mosque in Munirka (Wazirpur-ka-Gumbad is one
km to its north) and the dome-less Munda Gumbads nearby. Munirka Gumbad,
south-west of R. K. Puram, has an octagonal chamber and Bada
Lao-ka-Gumbad to its east. Bajre-ka-Gumbad, 500 metres away is on the
north-east and a nameless tomb to the north-west dating to Sikandar
Lodi’s time. Another monument of the second Lodi ruler’s time is
Khwajasarai Basti’s tomb, along with a beautiful baoli with dalans or
verandahs. To the west is a mosque with inscriptions of Quranic verses.
Its gateway has a chhatri as its crown. The tomb of Basti Khwajasarai is
in front of the gate. The Khwajasarais were hermophrodites who were
born as such with underdeveloped male organs. Khwajasarai Basti served
Sikander Lodi and was honoured by him even after death, as is evident
from his monument.

In South Extension-Part I, north
of the Ring Road, is Kale Khan-ka-Gumbad built in 1481 at the time of
Bahlul Lodi, founder of the dynasty. In it is buried Mubarak Khan,
father of Darya Khan, whose tomb is near by. Not far away are the Bhure
Khan-ka-Gumbad and Chhote and Bare Khan Gumbads. Kotla Mubarkpur has the
tomb of Mubarak Shah Sayyid who reigned from 1421 to 1434. He was
murdered at the time of Friday afternoon prayers at the behest of
Sarvur-ul-Mulk whom he had dismissed as Revenue Minister. “With a low
dome, buttresses and chhatris, the tomb looks stunted but is a good
example of the octagonal Sayyid tombs”.

In such
surroundings after a discussion on the area’s architecture, it was time
for a talk on Shahjahanabad. The historiographer touched on many
landmarks and other aspects of the old city.

Here
are some excerpts: When Delhi was planned by Shah Jahan, it had Agra as
its model. Whatever embellished the capital of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah
Jahan initially was reintroduced in Shahjahanabad and whatever was dross
was omitted. The narrow streets of the older city were a hindrance to
the smooth flow of traffic.

They also got choked
when royal processions were taken out. The shops that came up in Chandni
Chowk and the mohallas surrounding the Jama Masjid were low compared to
the ones in Agra, where few of these survive. During the time of
Jahandar Shah (1711-12) the dandy emperor’s detractors used to refer to
Chandni Chowk as Kothawali-ka-Rasta because his concubine, Lal Kanwar
came that way to the Red Fort. In Mohammad Shah Rangila’s reign it
acquired the epithet of Rangila Chowk but in 1739, when Nadir Shah
massacred the residents, it was branded as Khooni Chowk. To the north of
it the Red Fort square is cluttered up with all sorts of vehicles now
but there was a time when mud houses made this place a veritable
jhuggi-jhonpri colony. That was after 1857 when Bahadur Shah had been
banished to Rangoon and the fort placed at the disposal of the British
troops. People who had been uprooted during the uprising found shelter
in mud hutments which led to the formation of slums right up to Kashmere
Gate.

Delhi has many kutchas or enclosed localities
but Kutcha Dilwali Singh (or Singhan) is one which has an enviable
history. The personage who lent it his name was the maternal uncle (mamu) of Guru Gobind Singh. The story is now the stuff of legends.

How
did lonely people pass their time in Delhi? Now of course there are the
movies, TV, recreation clubs, restaurants, parks, public lectures and
the world of art. Marco Polo, a columnist who toured India 50 years ago,
found to his disappointment that even after Independence the people had
changed little from 1908 when Sir Frederick Treves remarked on them.

Later the novelist E.M. Forster had commented that loneliness affected
more people in India than perhaps anywhere else in the world. To
get over loneliness some still tell tales, like the fishermen of the
Jama Masjid area.

5 comments:

Darya Khan Lohani served the Lodi kings in high posts. His tomb is near the Kidwai Nagar market.

It is built on a 3-tiered platform. The tomb is in the centre. Domed chhattris adorn the corners. The lowest tier has traces of chhattris on corners and a gateway and colonnaded chambers in front on the east. Originally, the tomb must have been quite impressive and magnificent!

It was built by Miyan Bhuwa, a minister with Sikandar and Ibrahim Lodi. It is located on a raised platform enclosed by walls. With an elegant red sandstone gate on the east. The prayer chamber has 5 arched openings, with the central one made of red sandstone and marble. The roof is crowned with 3 domes. At the rear corners are double-storeyed towers with arched openings. The eastern corners of the compound wall have domed, octagonal chhattris. Stalactite pendentives support the dome. Only traces of coloured tile work can be seen now.

Legend has it that Sikandar Lodi once picked up a grain of moth (lentil) from a mosque and gave it to Miyan Bhuwa. The latter sowed it and multiplied the grain til he had sufficient money to build this mosque. Hence the name.

The wall at the back of the canopy in the Diwan-e-Am in the Red Fort, where the emperor used to receive the general public, is faced with beautiful panels inlaid with multi-coloured stones, representing flowers and birds. Do you know these panels are supposed to have been executed by Austin de Bordeaux, a Florentine jeweller?!

The central panel on the top shows the Greek God Orpheus with his lute. (Talk of cultural fusion. :) ) The panels were much damaged and at one time, they were kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Later, they were restored in 1903 at the instance of Lord Curzon.

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